Oral History Project Planned for Rosenwald School

Historic marker reads: Cape Charles Colored School  Constructed in 1928, this school opened about 1930 for African American children in Cape Charles during legalized segregation. The building was constructed with contributions from the local African American community, the State Literary Fund, and the Julius Rosenwald Fund, established in 1917 to build schools for African American students in the rural South. Staffed by three teachers and a principal/teacher, the school housed grades one through seven, and was a center for educational, social, and cultural events for the African American community. Under Principal Jesse L. Hare, the school closed in 1966 when Northampton County Schools were consolidated four years before their integration.

Historic marker reads: Cape Charles Colored School
Constructed in 1928, this school opened about 1930 for African American children in Cape Charles during legalized segregation. The building was constructed with contributions from the local African American community, the State Literary Fund, and the Julius Rosenwald Fund, established in 1917 to build schools for African American students in the rural South. Staffed by three teachers and a principal/teacher, the school housed grades one through seven, and was a center for educational, social, and cultural events for the African American community. Under Principal Jesse L. Hare, the school closed in 1966 when Northampton County Schools were consolidated four years before their integration. (Wave photo)

February 10, 2013

The Cape Charles Rosenwald School Restoration Initiative is working to preserve the history of the old Cape Charles Rosenwald School, its alumni, and faculty. The group has been awarded a $2,000 grant from the Virginia Foundation of the Humanities to conduct an oral history project entitled “Voices from Over the Hump – An Oral History of the Cape Charles Elementary School – A Rosenwald School.”

The project captures in words and film the history of the Cape Charles Elementary School (identified on the historical highway marker as the Cape Charles Colored School), from the experiences of surviving alumni, faculty, and members of the school’s community, as well as from existing institutional records, personal photos and other historical documents collected from local government and private individuals.

The interviews are conducted by students from the Old Dominion University, guided and supervised by Dr. Bridget Anderson, ODU Associate Professor of Linguistics. The students will record, transcribe and analyze the interviews using ethnographic methodology.

The data collected and analyzed will provide the foundation for a documentary film, booklet of excerpts from the oral history interviews, archived scholarly research materials, a virtual museum for a future web site and traveling exhibit that could be used in schools and other venues in the region.

Nine interviews have been conducted. Six additional interviews are scheduled for the spring. Alumni and faculty members interested in archiving their experiences are asked to contact the Initiative through their Facebook page (click here).

 

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